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GDT: Canes v. Senators 12/13 7:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Any triskaidekaphobics out there?

The Canes rode 3 goals from their blue line to a come from behind win against the Sharks. The win came with a steep cost, as Jack Drury was lost to a broken thumb. Tyson Jost was recalled from Chicago and will center the 4th line. That moves KK back to the 2nd line, we’ll see how short the leash is this time. This is how they practiced yesterday:

Svech-Aho-Roslovic
Robinson-KK-Necas
Martinook-Staal-Jarvis
Carrier-Jost-Blake

With 2 days off since the last game, we should see Kochetkov in goal.

Ottawa is 5th in the Atlantic, at NHL .500 with 28 points in 28 games. They’re 5-4-1 in their last 10 but are coming off a 5-1 win over Anaheim on Wednesday behind a Drake Batherson hattie. The Sens have 5 players with at least 10 goals, led by Brady Tkachuk with 14. Tim Stutzle leads with 26 assists. Stutzle, Tkachuk and Batherson are all averaging more than a point per game. But after them, it’s a steep drop off. Adam Gaudette has 13 goals but, much like the Canes Jack Roslovic, only 2 assists. Linus Ullmark has started 17 games in goal, he’s at 2.70/.903. He’s backed up by Anton Forsberg who is at 2.95/.889. Ullmark played on Wednesday and the Sens host Pittsburgh tomorrow, so we might see Forsberg tonight. The Sens are 15th in goals per game and 16th in goals against. Their PP is good, 5th in the league, but the PK is 24th.

Black jerseys tonight. FanDuel and NHL Network for TV. This is the only game in the league tonight, so let’s have a good showing.
 
Ottawa has stabilized after that rough stretch in mid-November (including the lifeless 4-0 game they dropped in Raleigh), and they've settled into a comfortable .500 kind of pace. For a club that once again had hopes to at least contend for a wildcard slot, this is yet another disappointing start. Yet again, scoring depth and defensive cohesion are concerns although Ullmark has finally offered them competence in goal. They simply don't score enough goals to overcome a relatively leaky defense and they rely too much on their power play. They're better, but not enough so to really make a mark. I know they've been salty about other clubs making noises about encouraging Tkachuk to demand a trade, but they honestly need to churn the core and he's a better place to start than Stutzle.

Bottom line ... try to keep them off the power play and grind them down 5v5. That's the basic game plan that works against this lot. And that's good because that's what Carolina needs to be working on anyway. The Canes have had a nasty habit of starting games strong then then losing control of the flow in the middle of the first frame. Teams have been doing a good job of jumping on the second pass when the Canes are breaking the zone and Carolina really needs to come up with some fresh ideas so they can get to their improved transition game a bit better. Brindy has bit the bullet a bit and started to line match more at home, and that should buy Aho's line a bit more space against a shallow Sens team. Keep an eye on the shot counter, because this is a team against which Carolina should be able to generate some shot volume and get back to their normal game. If this thing turns territorial and they let Ottawa muck up the neutral zone, then we're in for another dogfight.
 
Stillman is skating in the warmup and I don’t see Staal. Looks like 11/7 tonight.
 
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